Canada had a total of 122 spills from oil pipelines — four of them significant — during 2014, according to a report released Tuesday by the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association.

The most serious spill, in July of last year, involved 5 million litres (about 1.3 million gallons) of bitumin from Alberta’s tar sands, south of Fort McMurray, Alberta. A month later, Calgary-based Nuvista Energy spilled 100,000 liters of water, oil and gas near High Level in northwest Alberta.

Crews work to clean up from an oil pipeline spill in a Mayflower, Arkansas, in 2013. An ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured and spewed thousands of barrels of crude oil. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston)

The report was released a day after the TransCanada Corp. asked the White House to put on hold approval of its $8 billion Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry Alberta oil through America’s Midwest to the Gulf Coast for export. The 1,200-mile pipeline would have a capacity of 830,000 barrels of oil each day.

The official reason for delay is to allow Nebraska authorities time to review a change in the pipeline’s route beneath the state. The unofficial reason is that TransCanada fears that President Obama, increasingly active on climate issues, is poised to reject Keystone XL. A delay of nine to 12 months would punt the decision to America’s next president.

The White House indicated Obama may still go ahead with a decision. White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Tuesday described TransCanada’s request as “unusual.” (Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has come out against Keystone XL; Republican candidates support it.)

The United States has seen several major pipeline spills in recent years, from the Yellowstone River in Montana to Michigan’s Kalamazoo River, to the ExxonMobil pipeline that spilled in Mayflower, Arkansas. The 2010 Michigan spill topped 1 million gallons, and involved a cleanup of contaminated river sediments whose cost has pushed $1 billion.

“We know that we need to build public confidence and trust in our industry and we think this report will play a big part in that,” Brenda Kenny, head of the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, told CBC News. “The shared vision of CEPA and our member companies is zero pipeline incidents and to demonstrate to Canadians that we are serious about earning and keeping their trust.”

Actress Daryl Hannah is arrested along with Robert Kennedy Jr. (right background) at White House in protest against Keystone XL pipeline.

Even if Keystone XL is blocked, Alberta crude oil may be coming in our direction.

Two big pipeline projects, each equal to Keystone XL, have been proposed for the west coast of British Columbia.

The proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline would head due west from Edmonton in Alberta to Kitimat in British Columbia. Kitimat, at the head of long, treacherous Douglas Channel, would become a major oil export site.

Environmentalists, aboriginal First Nations and opposition politicians have fought the project. Prime Minister-designate Justin Trudeau, who takes office Wednesday, has said he would kill it.

The proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline involves tripling the capacity of an existing pipeline that runs from Edmonton down to a small refinery in Burnaby, just east of Vancouver. Its capacity would be equal to Keystone. The oil would be exported. Thirty-four tankers would traverse the international waters of Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan de Fuca each month. The route borders on the San Juan Island National Historical Park and San Juan Islands National Monument in the U.S., and a newly created national park in B.C.’s Gulf Islands.

Unlike Stephen Harper’s outgoing Conservative Party government, which seemed set on approving the project, Trudeau has promised an honest and impartial environmental review.

Aside from several Native American tribes, environmental groups south of the border have not paid much attention to Kinder Morgan. They ought to.